Non-slip tread with alveolar structure

ABSTRACT

A non-slip tread, applicable to the footwear sector, having in correspondence of the heel and the front half-sole, two areas with alveolar structure whose cells consist of walls converging on a hole to form a funnel-shaped surface. Each hole is a through hole, that is, it passes right through the thickness of the tread and communicates with a transverse channel for lateral outflow made inside the tread.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns a non-slip tread with alveolar structure, applicable to the footwear sector, having holes communicating with internal transverse channels for lateral outflow.

2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.

In the footwear sector, it is known that walking on hard, wet pavements is facilitated by footwear having soles made of very soft rubber on which treads are marked out with particular notches or grooves that prevent slipping and help to keep control of body stability.

If the ground on which a shoe is placed is natural ground, it is known that, in order to ensure better grip, the part of the sole placed on the ground has a tread consisting of designs with raised parts of varying depths obtained by moulding that, by penetrating and adapting to the ground, ensure good grip. Even if they are designed in advance, the aforesaid raised parts do not however ensure a good grip of the shoe on the ground if this is a smooth, wet surface, because their presence reduces the contact surface of the sole with the said surface and holds water in the cavities.

The non-slip properties of a sole are generally given by the type of material with which they are made, which must be soft rubber, and by the design or pattern of the tread.

The tread designs or patterns must be specially designed to facilitate the outflow of as much water as possible from them during compression of the sole on wet paving.

In the current state of the art, in the footwear sector, there is footwear called boat footwear, designed to prevent aquaplaning, which arises when a film of water forms between the tread and the ground with a consequent loss of grip and balance of the user.

To prevent aquaplaning, this footwear has a sole with a completely smooth tread that has small notches made in the sole that, normally but not exclusively being made of rubber, causes, during normal walking, opening of the said notches that spread their entire surface over hard, wet paving and suck up the water beneath so favouring direct contact of the tread with the paving, but, at the same time, reducing the contact surface with the ground. In the current state of the art, there is the US 2009/090031 A1 document, in which is disclosed the insertion of cotton fibres or similar materials in particular recesses of the tread with holes communicating with internal channels. The tread has a structure with cells having walls converging into a hole, filled with cotton fibres, which however cannot have the function of funnel during walking, because these fibres form a barrier that prevents free and fast expulsion of water, so much so that the moisture absorbing elements are constantly mentioned in the claims of the patent application.

Moreover, the soft rubber (or similar material) contact surface of the tread, necessary for good grip on the ground, is almost non-existent in the said document, since almost the whole surface of the tread is occupied by the cotton fibre elements prepared for absorbing moisture, and these do not guarantee the right grip. Not to mention the fact that the cotton fibres of the said elements lose part of their absorption capacity when they are glued to the tread and lose it completely in a short lapse of time in use on the ground, where one normally walks on water mixed with various other substances that clog the fibres that, on drying, can create exactly the opposite effect, that is, slipping.

In a similar way to that described for shoe soles, the fact that tyre treads also have to solve problems of grip on the ground arising from sliding and from aquaplaning by motor cars, is held up as an example.

The said tyres are also manufactured of very soft rubber and have on their surface particular notches or grooves that, by favouring expulsion of water from them, prevent the formation of a film of water (aquaplaning) between the face of the tyre and wet asphalt or paving.

The grooves, or notches, made on the surface of the tyres are used to create the space necessary for removing water from the part beneath the tyre. Maintenance of good grip is ensured by thick grooves or notches of the tread that run along the tyre axis. The relation between the surface of grooves or notches of the tread and the surface of the raised parts affects the entire contact surface of the tyre with the ground. Therefore, a large quantity of grooves or notches indicates lower tyre grip on a dry road in exchange for greater water removal capacity on a wet road.

As is well known, to have the best possible grip on the ground, racing cars use two types of tyres: one smooth, to be used on a dry road, which fully exploits its entire surface in contact with the ground, the other grooved to varying degrees, to be used when the road is wet because it has the ability to remove the water present on the ground, so preventing aquaplaning

By applying this example to the footwear sector, it can be deduced that, to have a tread with better grip than those on the market, it must have both the above-mentioned characteristics, namely the greatest possible contact surface with the ground for better grip and the ability to expel as much water as possible at the instant it hits the ground to prevent aquaplaning

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to make a tread that is non-slip on hard, wet paving.

It is another object of the present invention to make a tread that can prevent aquaplaning.

It is another object of the present invention to make a tread that, on hitting the ground, allows complete and faster expulsion of water from the paving by holding it inside its notches or grooves and at the same time exploits its entire contact surface with the ground for better grip.

It is another object of the present invention to make a non-slip and anti-aquaplaning tread that has a larger contact area between it and the ground. It is another object of the present invention to make a non-slip tread that can easily be incorporated into known products, such as shoe or boot soles.

It is a further object of the present invention to make a tread that allows better grip on hard, wet paving.

It is still another object of the present invention to make a sole tread for footwear that is non-slip and anti-aquaplaning and, at the same time, ensures excellent comfort during walking on any type of surface.

These and other objects are obtained with the present invention that concerns a non-slip tread with alveolar structure having holes communicating with transverse channels for lateral outflow made inside the tread.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the product that is the subject of the present patent application, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the drawing units, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the tread (1) of a non-slip sole of a shoe with, in correspondence of the heel and the front half-sole, two areas with alveolar structure whose cells consist of walls (2) converging on a hole (3) to form a funnel-shaped surface;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the tread (1) of a non-slip sole in which the transverse channels (4) are highlighted;

FIG. 3 shows a section view of the tread (1) of the non-slip sole in which it is highlighted that the holes (3) on which the walls (2) converge are through holes, that is, they pass right through the thickness of the tread (1) and are communicating with transverse channels (4) inside the sole for lateral outflow of the water being walked on;

FIG. 4 shows an axonometric view of the tread (1) with alveolar structure of the non-slip sole;

FIG. 5 shows a detail of the tread (1) of a non-slip sole of a shoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to a preferred—but non-limiting—embodiment, the present invention concerns a non-slip tread (1) for footwear having, in correspondence of the heel and the front half-sole, two areas with alveolar structure whose cells consist of walls (2) converging on a hole (3) to form a funnel-shaped surface. Each hole (3) is a through hole, that is, it passes right through the thickness of the tread (1) and communicates with a transverse channel (4) made inside the tread (1).

The term alveolar structure means a structure consisting of cells or concamerations of any shape having walls (2) converging on a hole (3), to simulate a funnel-shaped surface, in which water can penetrate and be pushed or conveyed into a transverse channel (4) to then flow out sideways.

The “hexagonal” shaped alveolar structure represented in the drawings of the present application is only the preferred, but non-limiting, structure of the present patent application.

In the front view of FIG. 1 it can be seen that in the tread (1) of the sole, there is a horizontal series of holes (3); this series of holes (3) corresponds, in the side view of FIG. 2, to an internal transverse channel (4).

The particular alveolar structure of the tread (1) in which the walls (2) converge on the holes (3) to produce a funnel-shaped surface ensures that during normal walking on hard, wet surfaces one does not slip because, during compression of the foot, the said structure allows the water being walked on to be pushed to the inside of the sole, which, on flowing through the hole (3), flows into the internal transverse channel (4) to then flow outward sideways.

During walking, when the weight of the person is placed on the shoe, the water, thanks to the funnel-shaped surfaces of the alveolar structure of the tread (1) that get squashed to the ground and to their consequent widening on the ground due to compression, is pushed into the hole (3) to then flow into the internal transverse channel (4) and flow outward sideways. The internal transverse channels (4) are therefore drainage for the water that the tread (1) of the sole accumulates inside it.

The funnel-shaped surfaces of the alveolar structure of the tread (1) that get squashed to the ground during compression of the foot on the ground and the consequent push of the water towards the inside through the holes (3) ensure that the tread (1) has a better grip on wet ground and gives the user of the sole provided with the present invention better balance.

Moreover, the alveolar structure of the tread (1) of the sole, since it is made up of funnel-shaped surfaces and therefore without large protuberances, gives its user greater comfort on all types of surface, whether wet or dry.

For the purposes of making the non-slip tread (1) the procedure for making it is secondary as the said non-slip tread (1) can be a single body consisting of a tread (1) with alveolar surface and internal transverse channels (4) made on the profile, or it can consist of a tread (1) with alveolar surface glued to an intermediate sole on which transverse channels (4) have been made.

The materials and dimensions of the invention as described above, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and claimed below, can be of any kind according to requirements. Moreover, all the details can be replaced with other technically equivalent ones without for this reason straying from the protective scope of the present patent application. 

1. Non-slip tread characterized in that it comprises: an alveolar structure with cells of any shape comprising walls converging on a hole to form a funnel-shaped surface; and holes passing right through the thickness of the tread and forming, in front view, a series that, in side view, corresponds to a transverse channel made inside the tread.
 2. Non-slip tread according to claim 1 characterized in that the funnel-shaped surfaces made up of the walls of the cells of the alveolar structure that converge on the holes, during compression on the paving, get squashed to the ground so widening their size on the ground.
 3. Non-slip tread according to claim 2, characterized in that the compression on the paving of the funnel-shaped surface made up of the walls of the cells of the alveolar structure pushes the water into the hole to then make it flow into the transverse channel made inside the tread and flow outward sideways. 